Kim Possible: Darkness Factor
by al3x3691
Summary: Alternate story of So the Drama movie. A new kid named Jason moves to town and becomes friends with Kim and Ron. When an assassination attempt is made on her life, Kim goes into hiding and discovers the new kid has some secrets no one could have suspected
1. Kim Possible: Darkness Factor Prologue

Kim Possible: Darkness Factor

Note: if you haven't seen the movie, DON'T READ THIS. WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST, OTHERWISE IT WILL MAKE NO SENSE.

Prologue

The man stood on a rooftop, overlooking the vast Japanese toy parade. There were giant balloons of Nakasumi-san's most famous toys and characters floating through the sky, burly-looking Japanese men banging on drums, and in the center, a huge float, with the Z-boy emblem emblazoned on a huge balloon-like structure that sat upon it. The millions of people watching the parade could have no idea what would transpire tonight…well except for four of them.

Standing on the float were two visible figures, Nakasumi-san and his translator secretary.

"Target confirmed, he's there," the man whispered into the headset strapped to his head. "Commence operation. Take the target, don't kill him."

The woman on the other end of the conversation "harrumphed" in reply. Shego flipped the switches for the smokescreen missiles into the open position. "I don't need YOU to tell me what to do," she snapped through the comset in her helmet.

On the rooftop, the man grinned, and removed the headset.

Shego piloted the ship down towards the float below, diving 5,000 feet between the huge office and business buildings lining the road where the parade marched. She pushed the trigger on her joystick, releasing the smokescreen missiles, which screamed down and exploded with dark gas, minimizing visibility to all within their radius.

Smiling her evil little smile, Shego swung around, preparing to swoop down and capture her prey. "Target-Nakasumi-san," she said into her headset. From the nearby rooftops, her attack ninjas leapt down to apprehend the millionaire toymaker.

"Okay, come with us, and you ain't gonna get-" one of the ninjas started to say, but was cut off when the huge bubble on the float popped, and a slender figure leapt out. The figure flew down, landing foot-first into the ninja, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice try, guys," Kim Possible said, assuming her fighting stance, "but I think a parade is celebration enough."

Note: I know I'm starting off at the beginning, but this is pretty much an interlude to the real story.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Squeamish morning

"Dude, KP, we totally kicked Drakken and Shego's butt in Japan! His plan to kidnap the head of the Nakasumi corporation was a huge disaster! We rock!" Ron was rambling on and on and on about the protection mission for Nakasumi-san.

They were back in Middleton, it was just after 2nd mod, and the two were walking down the hallway to lunch. Kim stopped by her locker to drop off her books.

"KP, what's up?" Ron asked. "You've hardly spoken all morning. You okay?"

Jerking up as if she had just noticed he was there, she turned around. "Nothing, Ron," she said distractedly. "I'm fine. No big."

In her head, though, every nerve was screaming "NO NO NO NO NO!" The senior prom was fast approaching, and the entire cheer squad had been against her, led of course, by Bonnie.

The practice had been going well. They had managed to get the spirit pyramid built, with Kim on top. Just as she was about to go for the leap, Bonnie's phone went off. Down below her, Bonnie whipped out her cell to answer it. As per the usual result, the entire pyramid collapsed.

"Hey, Brick, sweetie," she had cooed into her phone. "I'll come over after you're done working out. And don't shower, I like it when you glisten."

"Glisten?" Kim had said. "could you be any more sickening?"

"yeah…this may or may not come as a news flash to you, Kim," Bonnie said, in her usual snobby-above-it-all voice, "But I don't see you on the phone with your bf. Oh wait! That's 'cause you don't HAVE one." Walking to each of the other girls on the squad, she named their boyfriends, who were all superstar jocks, captain of their respective sports: ice hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, baseball…

"Face it, Kimmie," Bonnie purred. "Right now, you're looking at captain of the chess team for your prom date."

Walking into the cafeteria, Kim and Ron got in line. "Just one question, KP,  
Ron said as the line slowly moved forward. "What would Drakken want with a toymaker, other than a ransom? It just doesn't fit his description."

Sighing, Kim replied, "I don't know Ron." As the lunch lady dolloped a large spoonful of something onto her plate, a young man whom she had never seen before in her life came up to her.

"Excuse me, are you Kim Possible?" He asked.

When you read a good romance novel, often times the lovers are "love at first sight", both feeling this weird "ping" in the back of their minds, saying "that's the one, go get 'em!" Well, this was the first time Kim had felt that "ping" since kindergarten, and she immediately blushed, saying, "yeah, how'd you know who I was?"

Really looking at him for the first time, he was really quite handsome. He had dancing brown eyes, a nose that seemed to be the absolute perfect size, and brown hair that stuck out wherever it thought it would appear best to look at. And it looked quite good.

"I asked where I could find someone to talk to about the prom plans, and they told me to look out for the slender cheerleader chick with red hair, hanging out with "the loser with a naked hamster in his pocket". Well, I think I found half of that statement." He said, turning his attention to Ron.

"Dude, that's not cool! Rufus is a naked mole rat!" Ron said, annoyed. Rufus stuck his little hairless head out from Ron's pocket and added a dejected "yeah!"

"That's why I said I found half of it," the guy said. "I found the cheerleader chick, but I see no loser with a naked hamster in his pocket. I see a misunderstood sidekick with a naked mole rat."

"Whoa…" Ron said, startled by the compliment.

"What did you want to talk about regarding the prom?" Kim interjected.

"Oh!" The guy said, looking rather ashamed of himself. "sorry for not introducing myself first, my name is Jason. I'm a new student here, and I just wanted to inquire about the prom, since this is my first day here. Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all," Kim and Ron said at the same time. By a strange coincidence, both were also thinking the exact same thing: "This guy is cool." However, one of them meant it in a friendly way, and the other meant it in a more-than-friendly way.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Friends?

"Well, first of all, when is the prom, 'cause I kinda would like to go," Jason said as they sat down at their table.

"its next Friday," replied Kim. As she was talking, Monique came up and sat down.

"Hello, you're new here," she said, surprised and looking at Jason.

"Oh, hi, you must be Monique," Jason said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"How do you know me?" she asked, once again surprised.

"well, when I asked how to find Ms. Possible, they also said "if you can't find her with the nerd with the bald hamster, she'll probably be with that girl with the messed up fashion sense." Monique appeared quite shocked.

"Not that I believe them, or anything," Jason said quickly, recovering, "Now, for example, you see me, I don't have a fashion sense." He stood up to show them. He was wearing a plain black shirt, with a blue Hawaiian buttonup unbuttoned over it, with faded blue jeans. He looked every inch your everyday casual guy.

Whispering in Kim's ear, Monique said, "dang, girl, he is fiiine! Where did you find him?"

Whispering back, she said, "I didn't. He found me."

"Anyway, back to the dance," Jason said, sitting back down. "if you don't already have a DJ, I was going to offer that me and my band play for you."

"You have a band! Sweet!" Ron interjected.

"Well, uh…" Kim said. "I suppose I could discuss it with the other board members and see what they think…what are you called, and what do you play?"

"Well, our band is called Rifles and Pretty Flowers, I play lead vocals, and we can play just about anything you want. You could have a request box drawn up, and we could play what the crowd wants. If we can't, that's what fallback cds are for."

"Wow, you've really thought this through, haven't you?" Monique said, impressed by his thoroughness.

"Well, we've done gigs before, but never at a school prom," he replied. "But you'd do that for us?"

"Sure," Kim said, finishing her lunch.

"Sweet," Jason said. "So I guess we're…friends? Oh, shoot, gotta get to geometry. See ya!" he picked up his tray, dropped his plate of untouched food onto Ron's tray, and walked away.

"Yeah," Kim replied, as she watched him walk through the door. "I guess we're friends."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: new plans

The afternoon bell went off, signaling the end of the day. Some people went home, others stayed for after-school activities. Kim and Ron entered the gym for cheer practice, but instead found a ring of cheerleaders giggling and staring at something.

Perplexed, Kim walked over to them and yelled, "Okay ladies, enough of whatever-it-is you're doing, we need to practice!"

Turning their heads, the girls slowly filtered back to their cheer spots to prepare for practice. Finally, Kim and Ron got a good look at what they were all staring at. Setting up on the nearby stage, raised 4 feet off the floor, was Jason, and several other guys whom Kim guessed were the band.

Ron and Kim walked over towards the stage, gaping at them.

"How…when…" Ron was at a loss for words. Spotting them, Jason waved and ran towards them. Out of nowhere, one of the band members wheeled a large circuitry board straight between them. Kim cried out in alarm, thinking Jason wouldn't have time to slow down and would knock it over.

To Kim and Ron and the entire cheer squad's amazement, Jason vaulted straight over the circuitry board, which stood over 6 feet tall, and flipped a few times through the air, before landing silent as a cat in front of them.

"Kyle! Watch where you're pushing that thing, man!" he called, annoyed, to the guy who was pushing the board. He nodded sheepishly and wheeled it to its proper position. "Hey guys," Jason said, turning to the astonished duo. "Sorry about the interruption of your practice, we were just helping prep the stage and check where everything's gonna go. We got the gig!" he raised his hands for double high-fives, which were delivered.

"Awesome, dude!" Ron said. "But doesn't that mean you can't…you know…dance?"

"No, that's what fallback cds are for," he said easily. "I wouldn't ever go to a prom just expecting to play music and not dance!"

Kim just nodded on, still amazed that the board directing the dance had given in so quickly. "wow, you got this awfully fast," she said. "How'd you convince them?"

"Well, we just auditioned a small portion of the stuff we do, and they were like "BAM! These guys are better than a DJ!" and we got it." Jason explained. "They've put us in charge of everything as far as it goes to sound. We control what plays, when it plays, and the radius of houses that are going to have windows break as a result."

"KIM!" Bonnie yelled, "I thought you said we were going to practice!"

"Oh right," Kim said, embarrassed, "Sorry, but we gotta practice."

"No problem," Jason said, "We won't make too much noise, and I promise we'll take a break to watch you guys in action. What do you do on the team, Ron?"

"I'm the mascot, baby!" Ron said, showing off his Mad Dog mask.

"Well, I'll have to see you too. Good luck, Kim," Jason called back as she and Ron walked away. He dashed back towards the stage, leapt up, and began walking around and chatting with the tech guys and band members working on the stage.

The rest of the day went less than perfect. All through rehearsal, Kim couldn't help looking over at Jason. Normally, she described boys as "hot", "nice", "sweet", or "just not right". For him, the only word that came to mind was "perfect".

Unfortunately, this frequently caused her to lose concentration, and more than once, she messed up their routine…badly.

"KP, that's the fifth time today! Get with it!" Ron yelled at the fresh pile of cheerleader bodies, the remains of the spirit pyramid which had crumbled yet again. Kim could just make out from between Tera's legs Jason laughing. Kim blushed and pushed herself up out of the tangle of chaos.

"Okay, I think that's enough practice for today, girls," Kim said, and turned and grabbed her bookbag and ran into the locker room.

"UGH! How could I do something so stupid?" Kim was banging her head against the locker room wall, bookbag in hand. She couldn't believe she had blown practice so badly, just because Jason was watching. After several minutes of frustration, she got dressed back into her pink khakis and white and pink heart shirt, and walked out. Ron was waiting for her by the front entrance, as always. With him was Jason.

"Hey, KP!" Ron called, waving. She waved back, and walked over to them, blushing a little in Jason's presence.

"Well, Kim, I hope you can do better than that," Jason said in mock disapproval. "If you keep messing up like that, the cheer squad is going to be doomed!"

She blushed even deeper, but relaxed a little after he said "I'm just messin' with you."

Ron put his arm around Jason's shoulder. "Me and the J-man were just discussin' the new Z-boy game comin out in 2 weeks!" Ron grinned. "So, Jason, you, me, Kim, bueno nacho tonight at 8?"

Frowning, Jason said, "ooh, sorry guys, I can't do tonight How about next Friday? I have a part-time job to work at. Just got it, can't afford to skip out on it. Sorry." This last comment he directed at Kim. "I really want to come, but I can't skip out on this, or my new boss'll kill me." He waved and walked out the door, turning east down the street. He disappeared from sight moments later.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: New enemies

Note: Before I go any further, I would first like to point out that I'm one of those weird people who likes to choreograph stuff like fight scenes with music. Its just something I like to do, because I think it adds to the effect. Anyway, one of the scenes in here is one of those scenes that, if I had the movie rights, I would choreograph it with Trans-siberian orchestra's Christmas Sarajevo 12/24. I will indicate other scenes like this as I progress through the story.

The man stood in the dark room. He had been waiting for over two hours for the other guy to show up. This man was not known for his patience, and those who wore away at his patience usually ended up dead. Finally, he heard a knock at the door. He stood up from the corner from where he had been leaning against the wall and opened the door.

"Ah, good, you're here," the other man said, stepping into the room. He wore a dark blue lab coat, and black boots. The odd thing about him though, was his blue skin. "I was afraid by the time I got here, I'd lose my new employee," He said.

To the first man's surprise, the other man was followed soon after by a woman, who had caused the strangest conflict within the first man that he had ever known. She was staggeringly beautiful, but obviously very, very deadly. She wore a strange black and green suit, which hugged her feminine curves quite nicely. Unfortunately for other men who took this as a sign to hit on her, she did not respond terribly well to such things.

"I thought you said you were coming alone," the first man said, irritated. "First you keep me waiting for two hours, and then you do not live up to the agreement regarding the secrecy of this meeting? I think I'll take my services elsewhere."

The first man walked toward the door. Unfortunately, the woman was blocking it. Unfortunately, she did not want him to leave. Unfortunately, he wanted to.

Unfortunately for her.

20 seconds later, the man was walking out the door towards the front lobby of the apartment building.

The second man rushed out after him. "Wait!" he desperately threw a small green pack at the first man, who had his hand on the door. Without even looking, he reached out and caught the pack and held it up. In the dim light provided by the moon and stars, since it was now about 8 o'clock. The pack was full of money. He quickly rifled through it.

"This is my pay?" he asked.

"That's a quarter of it, if you do what I ask," the man panted. "Without severely injuring any of my staff."

After several seconds of silence, the first man asked, "Who is my target?"

"Come with me, and I'll show you."

Twenty minutes later, they were standing on a rooftop overlooking the Middleton Arcade, which was closed. The street lights were not operational. Even with the dim light, both men could make out 2 figures walking through the darkness directly below them.

"Those two," the second man said, indicating the two figures with his hand.

"That's all?" The first man asked. "They're nothing more than children. Might I inquire why you want them dead?"

"Let's just say it's a personal grudge," the second man said. "Report to me as soon as you are done, and you shall receive your pay." With that, he walked back to the hovercraft that had brought them here. The woman, now conscious and thoroughly bruised, was waiting for him. He leapt into what would be considered the driver's seat of the vehicle and sped silently away into the darkness.

"Well, KP, I dunno about you, but I am totally psyched!" Ron yelled with glee. "I beat the ultimate high score on Kung-Fu masters 4!"

"Wonderful, Ron," Kim said, now quite used to his aimless rambling about video games.

"KP, I don't think you understand how historic this event is for me!" Ron said. "I've been trying to beat that score since I was 7! And now, my dream come true!"

(Cue TSO music)

"Well, I accepted the job," the man on the rooftop said. "I suppose I'll have to fulfill it. That's about a 30 foot drop straight down…"

"I'm tellin' ya, KP, this night couldn't get any better!" Ron said, still excited.

"Ron, enough about the stupid game," Kim said, becoming uneasy in the deathly quiet and dark. "Something doesn't feel right here…" she stopped, and stood prepared to jump right into a combat stance. She put all her senses on alert, listening and watching for anything out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell straight in front of her. She immediately assumed a defensive combat stance. The shadow was human-shaped, and appeared to have landed on one knee. Slowly, the figure rose.

"May you find peace in heaven," it whispered. Neither Kim nor Ron recognized the voice. Even in the darkness of the night, Kim and Ron could see the light reflecting off the two daggers the man now held in his hands. "I have been sent to kill you," the man continued, slowly walking forward. "And kill you I shall."

In the distances, the church bells tolled an eerie tune, completely unfamiliar to them, almost as if it were announcing their deaths.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Assassination

"Well, someone needs to look at daylight once in a while," Kim said. She charged straight at him, then leapt in the air with a flying kick aimed straight at his chest. But the man was not there. She landed on her feet, and spun around just in time to see twin flashes of steel dancing toward her, held by the man. As he drew closer, he began an attack pattern, which in all her years of training with hundreds of martial artists, she had never seen before. She took note that his hands continually changed the position of the daggers. First they were both held normally, then the left one would be held so that the blade pointed backwards, and then the right one, and then he would twirl them on his fingers through a small hole on the crossguard. The only thing she could do was go on the defensive. Fists could not kill daggers.

He began his attack by slashing upwards at a slightly diagonal angle, beginning with his right hand with the dagger held normally, followed by his left holding it in reverse. Kim backflipped, avoiding the twin attacks that, it they hit her, would slice her in half. She retaliated by landing on her feet, then immediately jumping forward with a flying kick at the man's face. She still couldn't see who her attacker was, and she was willing to bet he didn't know who she was either.

"I think we'd better shed some light here!" Ron yelled, pulling out a flashlight and aiming it at the man. He shied away from the light, turning his head so they couldn't see his face. The man was wearing an entirely black suit, with a mask covering his entire face. Two sheaths belted on his waist were obviously designed to hold the lethal daggers he held in his hands.

"Who are you?" Kim demanded.

You are Kim Possible, yes?" the man said, still hiding his face.

"Yes, now surrender!"

The man grunted, then ran towards the shadow of a dark alley near the building from which he had jumped. He ran into it, followed closely by Kim. Ron stumbled and yelled after her.

"Stop!" She yelled, skidding to a halt 3 feet in front of the assassin, who had stopped at the dead end that the alley ended in. Without the light from the flashlight, he turned and looked at her again, and said quietly, "No."

With that, he proceeded to leap UP the alleyway, jumping from wall to wall and moving up the sides of the buildings. Kim pulled out her grappler hair dryer and fired it, aiming for the spot where she expected him to leap onto the top of the building. The gun reeled her up towards the roof of the building, but as she flew up, the man jumped earlier than she expected, and flew 10 feet straight up. Right next to her cable. As he flew up, he spun out a dagger and slashed the cable attached to the grappler. Kim fell 15 feet, landing on her feet, but was driven to her knees from the force of the impact.

"Till, next time, Kim Possible," The figure called from the roof, and disappeared.

"KP! You all right?" Ron yelled, finally stumbling into the alleyway with the flashlight.

"Why did he run away?" Kim asked. "Why couldn't I beat him!"

"KP, don't take it too hard on yourself," Ron said cajolingly. "So he beat you. Big deal. If we never see him again, good. Now lets go home and try and find a way to keep you away from him."

Ten minutes later, Kim was sitting on her bed, talking to Wade on the Kimmunicator.

"Wade, there was just an assassination attempt on my life," Kim said. "I need a plan of action, in case he shows up again."

"Well, Kim, the best thing to do would be to hide out at someone's house," Wade said. "But not a friend's house. That's one of the first places the assassin will look for you. And security probably won't do much against this guy, if he could beat you, so I think that's your best choice. You should probably stay for the weekend and see if he tries to kill you again. If he does, I'll have the National Guard and CIA called immediately."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim said. "Who am I supposed to stay with for the weekend? I can't stay at a friend's house, so that rules out Ron and Monique…I WON'T stay with Bonnie, for sake of my sanity…"

"What about Jason?" Ron asked. "I'm sure he'd be happy to let you stay for a while."

"Yeah, Ron, but," she said, sheepishly. "We've only known him for a day, and I only got his phone number 5 hours ago…"

"So break a Rule," Ron said. "Call him the same day you get his number."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: living downsized

Kim walked up to her room with Ron and grabbed the cordless. Putting in the numbers Jason had given her, she waited while the ring tone sounded.

"You know, KP, didn't Jason say he had to work?" Ron asked.

After 3 tones, someone picked up the phone.

"Hello, Wellman residence?"

"Hey, Jason, its Kim."

"Hey! Didn't expect you to call so quickly."

"Yeah well…"

"Isn't that breaking one of the Rules?"

Kim smacked herself in the forehead.

"Listen, Jason, I need to ask a huge favor of your family."

"Okay, what do you need?"

"You know how I save the world on a regular basis and stuff, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, earlier this evening, there was an assassination attempt on my life, and my supergenius says I should hide out at someone's house for the weekend to avoid him. Do you think that would be okay?"

"Uh…" Jason faltered. "Let me, uh…deliberate this with my family members." He sounded uncertain. He left the phone for a few seconds, then came back. "Yeah, the rest of the family has no objections. What about your parents though? Wouldn't they go ballistic if they knew you were staying at a guy's house for the weekend?"

Kim hadn't thought of that. "Uh…I'll tell them I'm staying at Monique's."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, I live on 526 Jonson street. Just come over whenever your packed and stuff."

"Thanks, Jason. I owe you big time."

"No big."

Kim giggled and hung up the phone.

"So?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I'll be staying with him for the weekend." She said. "I just hope he doesn't try to pull anything while I'm there. I mean, we don't really know him that well, so we can't really tell what he'll do, can we?"

Ron shook his head. "Kim, I have this weird sense about people. When I first meet someone, I kinda get this feeling…I can't really explain it, but it kinda tells me if they're a jerk or not. I didn't get that when I met Jason, so I think we can trust him."

"I just hope you're right," Kim said uneasily.

"Kimmie! Where are you going this late at night?" Mrs. Possible called at her. Kim was just headed out the door with a rather large duffel slung over her shoulder and her regular school/mission backpack.

"Oh, mom," she said, turning to look at her. "Me and Monique have this big…physics project due on Monday, and I need to go over to her house so we can finish it. Can I stay for the weekend?"

Mrs. Possible frowned. "I don't recall you mentioning any physics project to me or your father…"

"sorry, mom, it completely slipped my mind," she replied. "so can I stay for the whole weekend?"  
"I suppose…" Mrs. Possible said, still not looking entirely convinced of the lie Kim was weaving around herself.

"Thanks mom," Kim said, coming over to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be back Sunday night." With that, she walked out the door.

"You sure you can do this, Kim?" Ron asked her for the sixth time as they walked down the street along Jonson street. "I mean, you save the world and everything, but lying to your parents about staying at someone's house?"

"Yes, Ron," she repeated, as she had done the last five times. "My parents don't suspect anything, and I already told Monique that if my mom calls, to say I'm in the bathroom."

"Okay," Ron said, still not convinced Kim was in her right mind. "well, here's 526… wait a sec, this is an apartment building," he said, looking up at the building.

"I guess he lives in an apartment," Kim said, opening the door to the front foyer and walking in.

It looked like your normal apartment foyer: small, cramped, and rather claustrophobic. Standing by the stairs leading up, was Jason, but he wasn't alone. There were two rather large dogs on leashes held in his hands.

"Hey," he greeted them, walking closer. "Hope you don't mind dogs Kim, but they're friendly." Both were rather long and thin, with short hair and pointy noses. One was a dark bluish color, the other tan.

"Greyhounds, right?" Kim asked, dropping her duffel and kneeling down to pet the affectionate tan one.

"Yeah," he said. "Meet my family."

Kim and Ron both looked startled. "You mean this is your family?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Jason replied. "My parents were famous archaeologists. Died in a landslide about 7 years ago. Left me their entire fortune."

"And you live in an apartment building?" Ron asked, skeptical.

"I prefer the simpler things in life, rather than expensive luxuries." He replied. "why do you think I'm in a public school?"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Then, after a few seconds, there was still an awkward silence.

Finally, Jason said awkwardly, "um…well, I guess I'd better show you where you'll be staying for the weekend. Come on boys." He pulled on the dogs' leashes, and they came away from Kim and started walking up the stairs. Jason let go of their leashes so they could continue. Then he bent down and picked up Kim's bag.

"I live in the penthouse, so there's a rather nice view overlooking the town." He said, starting to walk up the stairs. "Come on."

Kim waved goodbye to Ron, then followed Jason up the stairs. After a few moments, they both disappeared from sight, leaving Ron standing alone in the foyer.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: taking it in stride

"Well, just because I'm providing room for four doesn't mean we have to do so uncomfortably," Jason said at the landing where his apartment lay. He set her bag down on the floor and pulled out a keychain, and selected a key and slid it into the lock.

"hey, I've been chained in a welded shut box underwater with a giant shark and a killer squid under a six-foot layer of ice. I think I can handle sleeping in an apartment for 2 days," she said. Then realizing she may have insulted him, added, "Not that there's anything WRONG with living in an apartment, I just meant-"  
"I know, don't worry about it," he said, grinning. "Okay, here we are." He turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Inside it was dark, with the only light coming from the dim light bulb in the main hallway.

"Outside, this building may look shabby," he said, walking into the darkness. The dogs followed him in. "But my pad…is tricked…out." He flipped on a light switch, and Kim gasped.

The apartment looked as if it was too big to fit in the building. The front door was situated in the center of the wall of the main room. Inside, on the right side of the room, was a curved couch that looked as if you would just sink into it and never be able to find your way out. Sitting in front of it was a huge plasma tv, which was taller than Kim. Right next to it was a huge stereo system, built directly into the wall. She could see three doors sitting on the far end of the room, probably leading to the bedrooms and bathroom. Closer to them, a small section of the room which was obviously the kitchen, had a 4-foot high wall separating it from the rest of the room, but the rest of the space between the top of the small wall and the ceiling was empty, so you could look right into the room from the kitchen. The room and kitchen were lit by a dozen soft hazily glowing indentations in the ceiling, the sort you'd expect to see in a hospital suite, but they had a gentle, warming feel. The center of the room was completely empty, for some reason. The floor was soft, red, and cushy, and the walls…the walls blew her mind.

The walls were covered with the most incredible wallpaper she had ever seen. It was painted black, with thousands of small white dots all over them, with occasional red and blue ones, even the ceiling. The overall effect was like looking into deep space.

"Wow…" she said in utter amazement, unable to think of any other response. Slowly, she stepped into the room.

"Hey, hey!" he said. "Shoes off please, I just had the rugs cleaned!" then he grinned, and walked over to the kitchen area.

Kim took her shoes off and sank into the couch, which was so soft she felt she was on a cloud.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" Jason called from the kitchen. His voice snapped Kim out of her reverie.

"Hey, I thought you preferred to not have all that luxury stuff," she said.

"Yeah, well," he said, coming back into the room with two large glasses filled with a dark fizzy liquid. "Some things are just too nice to pass up. When I first got this apartment, it was in terrible condition. But I fixed it up, and now look at it." He offered her a glass.

"Its amazing," she said, taking the glass. "What is this?"

"Um…you feeling okay?" he said, looking at her. "Its called soda. You do know what soda is, right?"

"Oh, right," she said sheepishly, and took a sip. Out of nowhere, the tan greyhound leapt up onto the couch and settled down on her, front paws and head resting on her lap. He looked up at her with big ga-ga eyes. Kim was startled for a moment, then laughed and stroked his head.

Jason sighed. "He does that to everyone. It means he likes you," he got up and grabbed a remote from the table. "You like music?"

"Yeah," Kim said. "What's his name?"

"Sabin," Jason replied. "the other one is Doc. Doc!" the black dog trotted into the room from the kitchen.

"Oh, sorry guys, I forgot to feed you!" Jason said, putting down the remote and going back into the kitchen. Immediately, Sabin leapt out of Kim's lap, knocking her drink out of her hand and on to the carpet, spilling soda everywhere.

"Ah!" she yelped, startled. She ran into the kitchen after Jason, who had just put two bowls of dog food on the linoleum floor. "Jason, I'm sorry, I spilled soda all over your carpet!"

"Sabin knocked it over?" he asked, taking out the towels and stain remover.

"Yeah…" she said sheepishly.

"No big deal. He does it to me all the time," he said, glancing over at the two dogs, who were practically inhaling their food. He walked into the main room and cleaned up the mess while Kim stood uncomfortably in the kitchen.

"There, all clean," he said, taking the cleaning stuff back into the kitchen and throwing away the dirty paper towels and replacing the stain remover and towels to their proper places.

"I'm sorry," Kim said again.

"I told you, its no big deal," he said. "Anyways, its almost 10. Bout time we turned in. Your room is the one on the left," he said, pointing to the door. "I keep it maintained, just in case I have guests. This is the first time its been used. That room is connected to the bathroom, feel free to take a shower if you need to." With that, he ushered the dogs into his room. "I'm shutting the lights down at 10:30, so just don't be up past then."

"Thanks again for this," she said. "I owe you big time for this."

"No, you don't," he insisted, opening the door to her room. It looked rather comfortable, with an over sized bed, a small beside table with a lamp, a bureau on the other side of the bed, and a bookcase resting in the corner. There was also a door connecting the room to the bathroom.

"I'll, uh, leave you to your privacy then," he said, setting her bag down on the bed. "just give a call if you need anything." With that, he shut the door.

Kim spent a few moments walking around in the room, then grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom.

The bathroom practically sparkled. The sink was marble, the sink shined silver, and the tub was huge, taking up most of the room. Its rim just barely came up to Kim's waist. The shower stall sat next to it, the non-transparent glass sparkling. Another door, presumably holding a closet, stood on her right.

"Guess he likes to keep things pretty clean around here," she said quietly to herself. The tub looked verrrry inviting. She decided to take a bath instead of a shower, she was very sweaty after the night's events.

She stripped down, the turned on the faucet. Water poured out, cascading into the pool. Kim also noticed the small jet holes in the sides and bottom of the tub. Apparently, it was also a Jacuzzi.

"nice," she said. A few minutes later, the tub was full of hot water, and she turned off the faucet. Slowly, she stepped into the tub, and the jets immediately turned on.

She sat there, in bliss, before starting to wash herself. After a few minutes, she heard a knock at the door.

"Kim?" Jason said through the door. "I heard you turning on the water, thought you might need a towel and washcloth. Can I come in?"

Quickly, Kim submerged herself deeper in the water, the bubbles from the jet concealing most of her body. "Yes, I suppose," she said, nervously, unsure of what would happen next. It was like Ron had said, she didn't know him that well.

The doorknob turned, and opened. Jason walked in, one hand covering his eyes, the other holding a towel and washcloth. "Well, just to make sure," he said, stepping in. "I'll just put them down on the counter here…" he missed the counter by a good 2 feet, and tripped over the small carpet placed at the door. He yelled, trying to grab something. Unfortunately, he grabbed the closet door handle, which swung open suddenly, spilling dozens of towels and other linen right on top of his head. Kim giggled.

"Well, that obviously solves the towel problem," Jason said, his voice muffled from underneath the towels. "Just leave them there, I'll clean them up when you're done." He got up, shaking off towels that hung from his head. His hand still covering his eyes, he set the original towel and washcloth down on the floor, and slowly turned around to walk out. He tripped again, falling out of the room, trying to grab something, and once again grabbed the doorknob. As he fell out of the room, the door swung shut behind him, and she heard a muffled "thud" from outside. She giggled again, then grabbed the washcloth and began pampering herself.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this weekend," she thought dreamily, her mind lost in the wonderful feel of the Jacuzzi and her thoughts about Jason.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: getting to know you…starts singing

Slowly, Kim opened her eyes. She was laying face up on a soft fluffy bed, staring at a ceiling lit by the sunlight streaming in from the window. She squinted, trying to get used to the light. After her vision cleared, she sat up, looking around the room, and remembered she was at Jason's house. The door was closed, and she was in her pajamas. There was a towel laying on the floor by her bed. Suddenly, all the memories of the previous night came rushing back to her. The two dogs, Jason's apartment, spilling the soda, taking a bath, Jason coming in…they all came flooding back.

She got out of bed, her feet sinking into the thick warm carpet. She cast around for her bag, found it under her bed, and pulled it out. She searched around in it, looking for something particularly nice to wear for Jason. Kim knew now that she was definitely crushing on him, and she wanted things to go smoothly. Finally deciding on a long sleeve green shirt and brown cargos, she slipped into her clothes, walked into the bathroom and began her daily ritual of cleaning herself. Apply zit cream, wash face, brush teeth, brush hair. After 5 minutes, she went back into her room and put her toiletries away. She heard the sound of music drifting in from the living room, and she opened the door.

Sunlight streamed in from the windows beside the tv, and the stereo was playing a strange techno song she had never heard before. ("Too Far" from Beyond the Mind's Eye, by Jan Hammer.)

Jason was in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking something on the stove. He called, "Kim, its 8 o'clock. You want some breakfast?" He was by the stove, and appeared to be cooking something on it, but Kim couldn't see what it was.

"Sure, I'm starved," she replied, as Doc and Sabin dashed into the room and surrounded her, rubbing against her legs for attention. She obliged, petting them both for a few seconds, then walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making?" she asked, looking at him.

"Belgian waffles and pancakes," he said. "I don't mean to brag, but I can make some mean pancakes." He laughed, then flipped a few pancakes over. "You want to help?"

"Well, I can't really cook…" she said. "I nearly failed Home Ec."

"Its okay, there's really nothing to it," he moved next to her, and handed her the spatula. "I'll walk you through it. First, you take a ladle of batter, and drizzle it into the pan." Kim took up the ladle of batter from a large bowl, and slowly and gently allowed it to dribble onto the pan. "Make sure all the batter stays in relatively the same place," he said warningly. "we want one good-sized pancake, not a dozen smaller ones." Of course, Kim entirely failed to do this, and got batter everywhere.

"Okay, Kim," he said. "Do what the song says. Take it easy. Try to work in rhythm with the music. It may sound silly, but trust me, it works." He pulled out another spatula from the nearby drawer. "Here, I'll take care of the pancakes. Can you take those waffles out of the iron? CAREFULLY?"

Kim nodded and grabbed an oven mitt, and opened the waffle iron, letting the waffles slide out onto a plate. She placed them on the counter next to the iron. "Four waffles ready to eat." She said, happy she had actually done something right in the kitchen for once.

"Good," he said. "Now was that so difficult? Here, why don't you go wait at the table, I'm almost done." He flipped another two pancakes, then pulled off his apron and hung it on the handle of the refrigerator. Kim nodded, and sat down at the table. She put her elbows on the table and rested her head on the cups of her hands, staring at nothing in particular. A few minutes later, Jason came in, carrying a plate of pancakes and a plate of waffles.

"Can you watch these?" He asked. "I need to get some plates and stuff." He walked back into the kitchen, pulled out a pair of plates, forks and knives, and went back to the table.

"Okay, we ready to eat?" he asked. Kim jolted out of her reverie.

"Um, yeah I guess," she replied.

"No we're not," Jason said, giving her a strange look. "We need syrup. You should have caught that, Kim." He got up and went back into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of syrup. "Kim Possible," he said. "The girl who can do anything but cook. Are you feeling all right?"

"yeah," Kim replied. "just tired, that's all." Another song came on the stereo, once again one she had never heard before. ("Take Five" by Eric Singleton.) "You like to listen to music a lot, don't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, its part of my job," he said. "I'm an entrepreneur of music, buying, selling, and collecting for my boss. He doesn't have time to do such things, so he hired me to do it. I work when I want, and I buy and sell at a store downtown. Basically, he handed me a music store and said, 'run it how you want.' Its really nice."

"It sounds nice," Kim said. "is that how you were able to afford all this?"

"Actually, most of this was paid for by my parents. They left me a trust fund, and when they died, it came into my possession. I traveled the world for a while, and then decided to settle here and go to school."

"So you've been around the world before?" she said, taking a bite of a pancake.

"Oh yeah, I've seen most of it," he said, jabbing a bit of waffle on his fork. "It's a really big world out there."

"Tell me about it," she said.

Fifteen minutes and much small talk later, they finished breakfast.

As Jason was putting away dishes in the dishwasher, Kim asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"Oh, I don't know, today is one of those lazy days." He replied. "I was thinking of just lounging around the house, or going to the gym, or something." He thought for a moment, then brightened up. "I got it." He walked over to the couch, and pulled out a large box from underneath it. "This should be good."

Kim was puzzled. "What is it?" Jason opened the box. Inside was a black box and two mats with arrows on them.

"Dance Dance Revolution," he replied, grinning. He pulled out the black box and some cables, and hooked them up to the television. "the greatest workout in existence." He then connected the black box to the two mats through cables in the mats, and turned the tv and Playstation 2 on.

"Well, stand on a pad," he said, indicating the brightly colored blue-and-red mat.

"Um, okay," Kim said. "what do you do?"

"Okay, watch me," Jason said. A menu came up, and he stepped down on an X on the pad. He then continued stepping on various parts of the mat. Across the screen and audibly, a voice said "First Stage."

"You step on the arrows when they reach the highlighted point on the screen," Jason said. "Observe." A song began playing, and arrows scrolled their way up the screen. When they reached the highlighted area at the top of the screen, Jason stepped on the corresponding part of the mat. This is not to say it was easy. Jason's feet were moving in a blur, keeping time with the song. (The song being "There You'll be" from DDR extreme.)

Finally, the song was over. Without even sweating, Jason said, "that's how you do it. You think you can do it?"

Awed by the speed of his movements, Kim shook her head.

"Oh come on," he said. "You've trained with ninjas and martial artists from all over the world, I think you can handle a dancing game with a nerdy teenager." He smiled again.

Sighing, Kim resigned. "Okay, but I have to warn you, dancing has never been my strong suit."

"Fine, we'll try something easier," Jason said, scrolling through the song menu. "How about…this one." Jason stepped on the X again, and "Second stage" flashed across the screen. Another song began playing, but Kim recognized this one. ("Kids In America" by Kim Wilde, on DDR extreme.)


End file.
